Fringe forming mechanism for looms



Jan. 30, 1968 G. A. WILLIAMS FRINGE FORMIiIG MECHANISM FOR LOOMS s Sheets-Shed 1 Filed Sept. 7, I966 INVENTOR. AMS

, ZOFPO 0.0.C

ATTORNEYS Jan. 30, 1968 ca. A. WILLIAMS 3,366,145 r FRINGE FORMING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 7, 1966 s Sheets-Sheet I74 I I1 g=6 f1 g= 5 ATTORNEYS INVENTOR.

Jan. 30, 1968 .G. A. WILLIAMS 3,366,146

FRINGE FORMING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed Sept. 7, 19 66 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR: Gum-:2 A.WILLIAMS WW, Md

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,366,146 FRINGE FORMING MECHANISM FGR LOOMS Gilmer A. Williams, Kannapolis, N.C., assignor to Cannon Miiis Company, a corporation of North Carolina Filed Sept. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 577,728 17 Claims. (Cl. 13924) This invention relates to looms and, more especially, to an improved fringe forming mechanism including novel means for periodically taking up the cloth being woven at much faster than normal speed while releasing the warp beam from the let-off motion so that a section of the warps devoid of filling may be formed between adjacent woven units of fabric and whereby such sections may be severed to form a fringe on each end of each woven unit. The present fringe forming mechanism is particularly useful in the manufacture of terry towels having fringes on opposite ends thereof.

Various attachments have been used in association with conventional single-shuttle and multiple-shuttle or box looms for increasing the speed at which a section without filling may be produced. Generally, special ratchet mechanisms have been utilized for this purpose heretofore operating in conjunction with conventional cloth take-up mechanisms, and the releasing of the warp let-off has been effected by relaxing the force applied to the warp beam by a brake band, the extent to which the prior art .special ratchet mechanisms may increase the speed of the cloth take-up is limited because of the limited angular extent to which a pawl-carrying lever may be reciprocated while the pawl properly engages the ratchet wheel, and by space limitations at the area of the loom adjacent the conventional cloth take-up mechanism in which the special ratchet mechanisms would be installed on a conventional loom. Also, the sudden changes in the force applied to the warps and cloth by a ratchet mechanism while forming a non-woven section of warps frequently breaks warps and tears the cloth.

Many looms are now equipped with positive warp letoff mechanisms including a speed variator whose variable speed output component is geared to the warp beam. A typical let-off of this type is shown in Hunts US. Patent No. 2,786,491, dated Mar. 26, 1957. To my knowledge no means has been developed heretofore to automatically release the warp beam from a let-off of this type. I

It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a fringe forming mechanism for looms which may drive the cloth take-up roll positively and at much faster speed relative to the normal speed thereof than has been attainable heretofore to my knowledge, and wherein means are provided for automatically releasing the warp beam from the load of a positive let-off mechanism of the type heretofore described.

A more specific object is to provide an improved fringe forming mechanism for a loom of the type having an oscillatable lay, a pattern device, a warp beam, a warp let-off motion having a constant speed rotary input component driven by the loom and a variable speed rotary output component drivingly connected to said warp beam, a cloth take-up mechanism comprising a take-up roll, a ratchet wheel operatively connected to said take-up roll, and a pawl operatively connected to and reciprocated by said lay and engaging said wheel to impart stepwise rotation to said Wheel and thus to said take-up roll; said fringe forming mechanism comprising an auxiliary drive means for the take-up roll including normally inactive clutch means having a continuously driven input portion and a normally inactive output portion, said output portion including rotatable means operatively connected to and normally rotated by said take-up roll, means responsive to Patented Jan. 30, 1968 said pattern device for activating said clutch means to establish a fixed connection between said input portion and said rotatable means of the output portion of said clutch means, said auxiliary drive means being arranged to rotate said take-up roll at a substantially faster speed when said clutch means is activated than that effected by reciprocation of said pawl, and releasable means interposed between the output component of said warp let-off motion and said warp beam, and being responsive to said pattern device upon activation of said clutch means, for releasing the warp beam from the output component of the warp let-off motion to permit the cloth to be taken up by said take-up roll at said faster speed wtihout being encumbered by the warp let-off motion.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- FIGURE 1 is a schematic perspective view of a box type terry loom equipped with the improved fringe forming mechanism of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing a plurality of terry cloth sections and intervening fringe sections therebetween and being representative of various fabrics which may be woven on the loom of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged detail of a conventional cloth take-up mechanism as modified according to the present invention and being taken looking in the general direction of the arrow 3 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view looking at the front of the lower portion of the auxiliary drive mechanism for the take-up roll shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an elevation, partially in section, taken substantially along line 5-5 in FIGURE 4 and showing the clutch means;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view taken substantially along line 6-6 in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged detail of the warp let-off motion as modified according to the present invention and being taken looking in the general direction of the arrow 7 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional plan view taken substantially along line 8-8 in FIGURE 7 showing mechanism for interrupting the driving connection between the warp let-off motion and the ground warp beam;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the brake release means associated with the ground warp let-olf motion; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary detail of the terry warp let-off mechanism.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, especially FIGURE 1, the fringe forming mechanism of the present invention is shown in association with a terry loom equipped with a box motion 10 and a color-changing filling magazine 11. The loom includes ground and terry warp beams 12, 13 from which respective ground and terry or pile warps are directed through heddles, not shown, and a reed 15 which cooperates with one or more shuttles, not shown, in the forming of terry cloth C, as is well known. The cloth C is taken up normally by conventional means including a take-up or sand roll 16.

Reed 15 is carried by an oscillatable lay 20 mounted on swords 21 which also support a plurality of vertically movable shuttle boxes 22 which are selectively moved to operative position with respect to lay 20' by connections with the box motion 10. Box motion 10 is controlled by a pattern device 24 which may be in the form of a dobby or jacquard mechanism, as desired.

Box motion 10 may be of a well known type such as is disclosed in a book entitled Instruction Manual, C- Loom, published by Crompton & Knowles Corporation,

Worcester, Mass. Accordingly, only a general description thereof will be given. Box motion includes a box lever 26 whose medial portion is pivoted on the loom frame and whose position is varied in response to the position of a pattern cable or link 27, linkage 30, and a pattern cable or link 31. Pattern device 24 may control the posi tion of box lever 26 by means such as is shown in Lindegrens U .8. Patent No. 1,847,615, dated Mar. 1, 1932, for example. A bar 33 is pivotally connected to the front end of box lever 26 and its lower end is connected to a vertically movable box lifter rod 34 supporting shuttle boxes 22.

conventionally, box motion 10 includes a color indicator lever 35 which moves forwardly and rearwardly in synchronism with and in direct proportional relationship with the vertical movement of the front portion of box lever 26, as is usual. A link 36 connects the lower portion of color indicator lever 35 to a crank 37 fixed on one end of a color indicator cross rod or shaft 40 which is journaled in the loom frame and extends across the lower portion of the loom. The other end of cross rod 40 also has a crank 41 thereon which is connected, by means of a link 42, to bell crank 43 pivoted on the magazine 11.

Magazine 11 may be of the well known type having a plurality of vertically extending channels therein, each of which is adapted to contain a supply of bobbins. Magazine 11 includes a forwardly and rearwardly extending bobbin or channel selector shaft 45 which is shifted forwardly and rearwardly by its connection to bell crank 43 so as to position the same in different positions corresponding to the different angular positions occupied by cross rod 40- and thus corresponding to the different positions occupied by shuttle boxes 22. Magazine 11 may be of a type such as is disclosed in said book or such as is substantially disclosed in Jennings United States Patent No. 2,364,978, dated Dec. 12, 1944, for example. As disclosed in said Jennings patent, each time bobbin selector shaft 45 is moved from one position to another, bobbins may be transferred from a different one of the channels of magazine 11 when called for by the usual fillingreplinishing mechanism, not shown. Since the angular position of cross rod 40 is controlled by pattern device 24, it is utilized as a means for effecting control of the improved auxiliary drive for the take-up roll 16 in response to pattern device 24, as will be later described.

As heretofore stated, the loom is preferably of a type adapted for weaving terry cloth, and may include a reed shifting mechanism and a terry warp let-off mechanism of a type such as is disclosed in Parkers United States Patent No. 1,901,769, dated Mar. 14, 1933, for example. The position of reed 15 relative to lay 20 and the let-off of the terry warps W from terry warp beam 13 may be controlled by pattern device 24. To this end, pattern device 24 has a cable extending downwardly therefrom which is connected to a crank 51 fixed on a forwardly and rearwardly extending rocker shaft 52 journaled on the loorn frame. Opposite ends of rocker shaft 52 have cranks 54, 55 fixed thereon. A cable 56, extending downwardly from crank 54, may be connected to suitable means, not shown in the present application, but such as is shown in the said Parker patent, for controlling the position of reed 15 relative to lay 20 in the usual manner for forming terry cloth.

The terry let-off mechanism is generally designated at and includes a pair of terry let-elf rolls 61, 62 suitably journaled on the loom frame and which are engaged by the terry warps W in their course to reed 15. In order to drive the terry warp let-off rolls 61, 62 in timed relation to operation of the loom during the weaving of terry cloth, one end of let-off roll 62 has a ratchet wheel 63 fixed thereon which is normally engaged by a ratchet pawl 64 mounted on a pawl carrier arm 65. Pawl carrier arm 65 may be journaled on let-off roll 62 and has a crank 66 integral therewith which is connected to the upper end of a link 67. The lower end of link 67 is connected to a crank 70 fixed on one end of a shaft 71 journaled in the loom frame. The other end of shaft 71 has a follower arm 72 thereon whose follower rides in engagement with a cam '73 fixed on or driven by the usual pick cam shaft of the loom.

Thus, cam 73 imparts rocking motion to pawl 64 to impart stepwise rotation to terry warp let-off rolls 61, 62 during the weaving of terry cloth. It will be noted, however, that crank 55 is connected to pawl 64 by a spring 76 so that, when pattern device 24 causes cable 50 to move upwardly, pawl '64 is raised out of engagement with ratchet wheel 63 so the terry warps W are simply pulled forwardly through the reed 15 by the take-up roll 16 during the weaving of plain cloth and in the formation of the fringe sections F (FIGURE 2) between adjacent terry cloth sections C of the cloth C.

As stated earlier, the loom is equipped with a ground warp letoff motion of the positive type. Such let-off motion is broadly designated at 80 in FlGURES 1 and 7 and is of a type generally known as a Hunt let-oif. A detailed description of the ground warp let-off motion is given in Hunts United States Patent No. 2,786,491, dated Mar. 26, 1957. Accordingly, only so much of the ground warp let-off motion will be described as is necessary to a clear understanding of the fringe forming mechanism of the present invention.

As best shown in FIGURE 7, let-off motion 80 includes a constant speed input component or shaft 81 which is driven from a constantly driven shaft 32 of the loom through suitable driving connections, including a pair of sprocket wheels 84, an interconnecting endless chain 85, a shaft 86, a worm 87 fixed on shaft 86, and a worm gear 90 fixed on input shaft 81. A variable speed drive or speed variator, including automatically adjusted upper and lower cone pulleys 92, 93 and a V-belt 94, connects upper or input shaft 81 to a lower output component or shaft Q6. As explained in said Hunt patent, if the ground warp yarns are not fed at the proper linear speed with rotation of the warp "beam 12, the tension on the ground warp yarns raises or lowers a scale beam to effect a corresponding change in the distance between the discs of the pulleys 92, 93, thereby varying the speed of the output shaft 96 of the ground warp let-01f motion 80. The output shaft 96 has a worm 101 (FIGURES 7 and 8) fixed thereon which meshes with a worm gear 102 mounted on a let-off shaft or warp drive shaft 103.

Let-01f shaft 103 is suitably journaled in the loom frame and has a pinion 104 fixed on its inner end which engages a relatively large gear 105 fixed on one end of ground warp beam 12. conventionally, worm gear 102 is fixed on let-off shaft 103 to transmit rotation from output shaft 96 of let-off motion 80 to warp beam 12. According to the present invention, however, worm gear 102 is loose on let-off shaft 103 and is connected thereto through a differential gear unit (FIGURE 8) so the load of the let-off mechanism 80 may be completely removed from warp beam 12 whenever the cloth and warps are to be taken up at faster than normal speed in the forming of fringe sections F (FIGURE 2) in the cloth C.

Differential gear unit 110 may comprise a pair of diametrically opposed planetary gears 111 fixed for orbital movement about and with warp drive shaft 103. As shown in FIGURE 8, planetary gears 111 are in the form of bevel gears journaled on opposed ends of a block 112 keyed to shaft 103, as at 113. Planetary gears 111 are disposed between and engage a pair of axially spaced sun gears 115, 116 which are loosely mounted on shaft 103.

Sun gear 115 is arranged in fixed axial relation to worm gear 102, and sun gear 116 is arranged in fixed axial relation to a brake drum 117 also loosely mounted on shaft 103. The periphery of brake drum 117 is normally firmly engaged by a frictional restraining means or brake means in the form of a pair of segmental brake bands 12.0, 121 carried by respective brake shoes 122,

123 (FIGURES 7, 8 and 9). Brake shoes 122, 123 are normally urged toward each other, to normally maintain brake bands 120, 121 in tight engagement with the periphery of brake drum 117, by means of a compression spring 124 mounted on a rod 125. Rod 125 loosely penetrates projections 126, 127 on brake shoes 122, 123 and has a head 130 thereon which engages the outer surface of projection 126.

An abutment 131, which may be adjustable on rod 125, engages one end of spring 124, and the other end of spring 124 engages projection 127 of brake shoe 123. An eccentric brake releasing cam 134, adapted to engage a pivoted member 135 on projection 126, is journaled in one side of projection 127 and has a brake lever 136 fixed to one end thereof. The extent to which brake bands 120, 121 are moved away from drum 117 by cam 134 may be controlled by an adjustment screw 135a (FIG- URE 9) threadedly penetrating projection 126 and engaging pivoted member 135. The lower end of a cable or link 137 is connected to brake lever 136 (FIGURES 7 and 9). The upper end of cable 137 is connected to linkage 30 (FIGURE 1).

It is thus seen that, since the braking device, including shoes 122, 123 and brake bands 120, 121, is maintained active during normal operation of the loom, brake drum 117 and sun gear 116 are restrained from rotation on warp beam drive shaft 103. Thus, rotation of the worm gear 102 by output shaft 96 of let-off motion 30 causes planetary gears 111 to orbit about shaft 103 in the opposite direction from gears 102, 115, thus imparting rotation to shaft 103 and warp beam 12. As shown, planetary gears 111 are about one-half the diameter of sun gears 115, 116 so they impart rotation to shaft 103 at about one-half the speed of rotation of worm gear 102.

When a section of cloth is to be formed without filling therein to form a fringe F, pattern device 24 (FIGURE 1) raises brake lever 136 (FIGURES 7 and 9) by means of cables 27, 137 and linkage 30, to rotate cam 134 and cause the same to engage member 135. Thus, brake shoes 122, 123 and brake bands 120, 121 are moved apart from each other to release and permit free rotation of brake drum 117 and sun gear 116 about shaft 103. When the braking device is thus release-d, instead of sun gear 115 transmitting rotation to shaft 103 through planetary gears 111, the planetary gears 111 simply rotate sun gear 116 and brake drum 117 about shaft 163, and shaft 103 may be rotated freely relative to worm gear 102 without being encumbered by warp let-off motion 80. This, in turn, permits the warp beam 12 to rotate freely as the cloth and warps are being taken up at faster than normal speed, without warp beam 12 being encumbered by warp let-off motion 80.

The improved positive cloth take-up drive mechanism (FIGURES 3-6) of the present invention is auxiliary to and operates in conjunction with the conventional ratchet drive for take-up roll 16. conventionally, the ratchet drive mechanism for take-up roll 16 comprises a main ratchet gear or ratchet wheel 150 (FIGURES 3 and 4) connected by a train of gears, including gears 151-154, to one end of take-up roll 16. It should be noted that gears 151-154 are positioned between the corresponding main side frame member 155 of the loom and an auxiliary saide frame member 156 spaced closely adjacent to and inwardly from main side frame member 155. Gears 151-153 are suitably journaled on auxiliary side frame member 156 and gear 154 is fixed on one end of take-up roll 16. Gear 151 is arranged in fixed axial relation to ratchet wheel 150 and is journaled on auxiliary side frame member 156, as is usual.

Ratchet wheel 150 is engaged by a pawl 160 which is reciprocated continuously during operation of the loom by connections with the corresponding sword 21. Swords 21 and lay 20 are oscillated in the usual manner by connections, not shown, with the continuously rotating crank shaft 162 (FIGURE 3) of the loom. In this instance, the

6 sword 21 shown in FIGURE 3 has an arm 163 fixed thereon to which the lower portion of a pawl carrier lever 164 is pivotally connected. The rear portion of pawl is pivotally connected to a medial portion of pawl carrier lever 164, and the upper portion of pawl carrier lever 164 is pivotally connected, as at 165, to loom side frame member 155. The parts of the main take-up drive mechanism heretofore described are conventional and it is with such parts that the improved auxiliary positive take-up drive mechanism is particularly adapted to be associated.

The auxiliary take-up roll drive means of the present invention comprises a normally inactive clutch means (FIGURES 1, 3, 4 and 5) having a continuously driven input portion 171 and a normally inactive or stationary output portion 172 which includes rotatable means, embodied in a gear 173, operatively connected to and normally rotated by take-up roll 16.

Clutch means 170 is preferably in the form of a single revolution clutch of a type such as is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,140,737, dated Dec. 20, 1938, to which reference is made for a more detailed description thereof. The normally stationary output portion 172 of clutch means 170 is in the form of an output shaft, and the input portion 171 is in the form of a driving hub normally loose on shaft 172. Output shaft 172 is suitably journaled on a bracket or plate 173 adjustably secured to the front surface of side frame member 155, as at 174.

Hub 171 may be continuously driven from the usual pick cam shaft 175 through intervening connections including a sprocket wheel 1'76 fixed on pick cam shaft 175 and which is engaged by an endless sprocket chain 177. Sprocket chain 177 also engages a sprocket wheel 178 fixed on a jack shaft 181 suitably journaled on a plate 182 fixed to and extending outwardly from the lower portion of side frame member 155. Jack shaft 181 also has a sprocket Wheel 1535 fixed thereon and engaged by an endless sprocket chain 186 which extends forwardly through a slot 187 in support bracket 173 and engages a sprocket wheel 192 fixed on hub 171 of clutch means 170. Clutch means 170 also includes a cam plate 194 loosely encircling shaft 172 and effective to maintain a fixed connection be tween hub 171 and output shaft 172 when it is in operative position to which it is urged by a tension spring 195 (FIG- URE 5) connected between cam plate 194 and a fixed hub 196 fast on shaft 172.

When a shoulder a on cam plate 194 engages an actuator or trip arm 200, as shown in FIGURE 5, cam plate 194 is restrained from rotation and spring 195 permits relative movement between cam plate 194 and hub 171 whereby conventional means, not shown in the present application, but clearly shown in said Patent No. 2,140,- 737, permit hub 171 and sprocket wheel 192 to rotate freely on shaft 172 while cam plate 194, fixed hub 196 and shaft 172 remain stationary. A tension spring 201 normally urges trip arm 260 against the periphery of cam plate 194 so that trip arm 200 normally engages shoulder a and maintains clutch means 170 inactive during normal operation of the loom. When a cycle in the operation of the fringe forming mechanism is to be initiated, trip arm 200 is moved forwardly (FIGURE 5) out of engagement with shoulder a of cam plate 194 through connections with the color indicator cross rod 40 in a manner to be presently described.

The lower portion of clutch trip arm 200 is fixed on a shaft 203 suitably journaled on bracket 173. A crank 204 also is fixed on shaft 203 and depends therefrom and has the front end of a connecting rod 205 pivotally connected thereto. The rear portion of connecting rod 205 loosely penetrates a crank 266 and has an abutment 207 adjustably mounted on the rear end thereof. Abutment 207 may be in the form of a pair of lock nuts threaded onto the rear end portion of connecting rod 205. Crank 206 extends downwardly from connecting rod 205 and is fixed on cross rod 40.

Gear 173 and a ratchet wheel 210 are fixed with respect to each other and are loosely mounted on output shaft 172. Gear 173 meshes with a gear 211 which also meshes with gear 151 (FIGURES 4 and 6). Ratchet wheel 210 is adapted to be engaged by a pawl 215 pivotally mounted on a pawl carrier or crank 216 fixed on the inner end of output shaft 172. A spring b normally urges pawl 215 toward ratchet wheel 210. During normal operation of the loom, as ratchet pawl 160 of the conventional drive for take-up roll 16 normally imparts stepwise rotation to roll 16, it also imparts stepwise rotation to gear 173 and ratchet wheel 210 through the intervening gears.

In order that the operator may let back the cloth by effecting reverse rotation to take-up roll 16 in the performance of corrective work on the loom, pawl 215 is normally engaged by a swingable cam or arcuate lever 220 which is pivotally mounted, as at 221, on auxiliary loom side frame member 156, and whose medial portion is normally urged rearwardly against a stop or abutment 222 by means of a tension spring 223. The free lower end of swingable cam 220 is so located that, upon initiation of each revolution of output shaft 172, the trailing portion of pawl 215 is moved out of engagement with swingable cam 226 so that spring b will immediately urge the operating end of pawl 215 into engagement with ratchet wheel 210. Although ratchet wheel 219 may rotate thereafter one or more revolutions, the force of pawl 215 against ratchet wheel 210 will be such as to maintain the pawl 215 in engagement with ratchet wheel 21%. Thus, as the trailing portion of pawl 215 moves in engagement with earn 220 during a portion of each revolution thereof, pawl 215 will still remain in engagement with ratchet wheel 210 and will simply bias the cam 226 forwardly, or to the right in FIGURE 6, in opposition to spring 223.

However, since pawl 215 comes to rest in the position shown in FIGURE 6 at the end of each revolution or cycle of shaft 172, subsequent rotation imparted to ratchet wheel 210 through the intervening connections with the main ratchet wheel 150 will result in the corresponding tooth of ratchet wheel 210 moving out of engagement with pawl 215. Thereupon, spring 223 will move the lower portion of cam 22% rearwardly until it engages step 222, and in the course of which pawl 215 will be moved out of engagement with ratchet wheel 21%. Therefore, pawl 215 is held out of engagement with ratchet wheel 210 during normal operation of the loom.

Many looms are equipped with mechanism for operating the loom stop motion and thereby stopping the loom upon failure of the shuttle to move across the lay in proper timed relation to oscillation of the lay. The plate 23$ shown mounted on a medial portion of lay 20 in FIGURE 1 is representative of means for detecting the presence or absence of a shuttle being thrown across the lay 20 in proper timed relation to oscillation of the lay. The detecting device 230 may be of a type which completes an electrical circuit to the conventional loom stop motion 23]. of FIGURE 1 at the instant that the shuttle must pass over the same, but which detecting device 230 becomes ineffective to actuate the stop motion in the event the shuttle passes over the same in proper timed relation to oscillation of lay 2G. Detecting device 230 may be of the type disclosed in said Instruction Manual, C-Loom, published by Crompton 8: Knowles Corporation, and, therefore, will not be described further herein.

In order that the loom will continue to run when an empty one of the shuttle boxes 22 is moved to operative position with respect to lay 2t), and as a consequence of which there is no shuttle thrown across lay 20, a normally closed switch 233 (FIGURE 1) in interposed in an electrical circuit in series with stop motion 231 and detecting device 230. Switch 233 is carried by a fixed part of the loom frame and located rearwardly of the magazine channel selector rod or shaft 45.

In this instance, the loom pattern device 24 is so arranged that a fringe forming cycle is initiated upon movement of the lowermost of the shuttle boxes 22 into operative position with respect to lay 20. Accordingly, this lowermost shuttle box remains empty at all times. Also, it will be observed in FIGURE 5 that abutment 207 on connecting rod 2&5 is normally spaced a substantial distance rearwardly from crank 206. However, when the lowermost of the shuttle boxes 22 is moved into operative position in the manner heretofore described, cross rod 4-0 is also moved angularly to thus move the crank 206 such an angular distance about the axis of cross rod 46 as to engage and impart rearward movement to abutment 207.

It is apparent that this rearward movement of crank 206 causes connecting rod 205 and crank 204 (FIG- URE 5) to move rearwardly and thus move clutch trip arm 200 out of engagement with shoulder a of cam plate 194. At the same time that cross rod 49 is rotated to such extent that crank 206 causes trip arm 2% to move out of engagement with shoulder a in FIGURE 5, crank 43 (in the upper right-hand portion of FIGURE 1) also moves magazine channel selector rod 45 rearwardly to such extent as to engage and open switch 233. Thus, with subsequent oscillations of lay 20, detecting device 230 is ineffective to effect operation of stop motion 231.

Depending, of course, upon the pro-established driving ratio between pick cam shaft 175 (FIGURE 5) and gear 151, it is apparent that very long lengths of the warps W, W, and certainly any desired length as may reasonably be required in the formation of fringes, may be pulled through the reed 15 by take-up roll 16 when it is being driven through the clutch means 170, during only a very few picks in the operation of the m. Since most of the functions of a terry loom are effected on the basis of three-pick cycles, the sprocket wheels 176, 178, 185, 192 are preferably of such relative size as to complete the desired number of revolutions of clutch means in the course of each three or each six beat-up strokes of lay 20.

In an unlimiting example, the clutch trip arm 2% was held out of engagement with shoulder a of cam plate 194 during six picks in the operation of the loom, and during which clutch means 170 rotated output shaft 172 through three complete revolutions and advanced the cloth on the take-up roll three inches, thus forming a section F without filling which was three inches long.

While the clutch means 17% is active and during the last pick of the loom occurring immediately prior to completion of the formation of fringe section F of the desired length, the pattern device 24 lowers cables 5t}, 27, 31, 137 (FIGURE 1) and the box motion 10 then operates in a well known manner to lower one of the shuttle boxes 22 then containing a shuttle therein into operative position as the lowermost shuttle box is moved out of operative position. In so doing, cross rod 4G moves in a r clockwise direction in FIGURES 1 and 4 to permit spring 201 (FIGURE 5) to move clutch trip arm 2% into engagement with the periphery of disc 174 so that it will engage shoulder a upon completion of the corresponding revolution by output shaft 172 of clutch means 170, thus stopping further rotation of shaft 172 until such time as another section of fringe F is to be formed.

At the same time that the empty shuttle box 22 was moved out of operative position with respect to lay 20, it is apparent that magazine channel selector rod 45 was moved out of engagement with switch 233 to render the detecting device 230 operative to effect operation of stop motion 231 upon subsequent failure of a shuttle to be thrown across the lay in proper timed relation to oscillation of the lay.

Since cable 137 is lowered at the same time as cable 31, under control of pattern device 24, it is apparent that brake shoes 122, 123 and bands 120, 121 (FIGURE 9) then become operative to prevent further rotation of brake drum 117 so that normal operation of the let-off mechanism 86 is resumed. Also, the lowering of cable 50 by pattern device 24 results in the terry let-off ratchet wheel 63 again being engaged by pawl 64 to resume normal operation of the terry let-off mechanism, as the cable 56 is lowered to permit normal operation of the conven tional terry motion of the loom for weaving the terry cloth sections C of FIGURE 2.

It is to be noted that clutch trip arm 2% and intervening connections to cross rod 40 are arranged to accommodate three or more shuttle boxes 22. If the loom is equipped with only two shuttle boxes, or only the bottom two shuttle boxes are used, there is no necessity to provide for lost motion between connecting rod 205 and crank 206 (FIGURE 1), and spring 2M (FIGURES 4 and 5) then could be omitted, since crank 206 would be moved rearwardly only upon an empty shuttle box being aligned with law and would move forwardly only upon the single shuttle-containing shuttle box 22 being aligned with lay 20.

It is thus seen that the improved auxiliary take-up roll drive mechanism is pattern controlled to override the conventional ratchet drive mechanism while imparting positive high speed rotation to the cloth take-up roll, and wherein the ground warp beam is relieved from the load of the positive drive ground warp let-off motion under control of the pattern device during the high speed takeup of the cloth in forming sections of the warps without filling therein. This speed and extent of cloth take-up effected by activating clutch means 176 may be varied readily by varying the relative sizes of the gears 173, 211 and/or the sprocket wheels 176, 178, 185, 192. Also, the extent of the fringe forming take-up of the cloth may be varied by increasing or decreasing the number of revolutions completed by output shaft 172 during each fringe forming cycle of the loom under control of the pattern device 24.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A fringe forming mechanism for a loom having an oscillatable lay, a pattern device, a warp beam, a positive warp letoff motion having a constant speed rotary input component drivingly connected to said warp beam, a cloth take-up mechanism comprising a take-up roll, a ratchet wheel operatively connected to said take-up roll, and a pawl operatively connected to and reciprocated by said lay and engaging said wheel to impart stepwise rotation to said wheel and thus to said take-up roil; said fringe forming mechanism comprising an auxiliary drive means for said take-up roll including normally inactive clutch means having a driven rotary input portion and a normally inactive rotary output portion, said output portion including rotatable means operatively connected to and normally rotated by said take-up roll, first means responsive to said pattern device for activating said clutch means to establish a fixed connection between said input portion and said rotatable means of said output portion of said clutch means, said auxiliary drive means being arranged to rotate said take-up roll at a substantially faster speed when said clutch means is activated than that effected normally by reciprocation of said pawl, and second means responsive to said pattern device upon activation of said clutch means for releasing said warp beam from said output component to permit the cloth to b taken up by said take-up roll at said faster speed without being encumbered by said Warp let-off motion.

2. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said loom includes a rotary shaft rotating in timed relation to oscillation of said lay, and means operativelv connecting said rotary shaft to said input portion of said clutch means to drive the same continuously durin! operation of the loom.

3. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 1,

wherein said clutch means is in the form of a single revolution clutch having a biased cam plate provided with an abutment thereon, a movable actuator normally engaging said abutment and thereby maintaining said clutch inactive, said first means responsive to said pattern device including means connecting said pattern device to said actuator and being operable to move said actuator out of engagement with said abutment to permit said cam plate to rotate with said input portion and thereby activate said clutch and rotate said output portion, and said pattern device being operable thereafter to release said actuator so it will be engaged by said abutment to inactivate said clutch.

4. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said output portion of said clutch means comprises a normally stationary output shaft which is rotated upon activation of said clutch means, said rotatable means normally rotated by said take-up roll comprising a second ratchet wheel, and a second pawl biased toward said second ratchet wheel and carried by said output shaft for rotating said second ratchet wheel upon rotation of said output shaft to thereby transmit rotation to said take-up roll.

5. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 4, including means normally maintaining said second pawl out of engagement with said second ratchet wheel, and means responsive to initiation of each rotation of said output shaft for releasing said second pawl from said maintaining means whereby rotation of said output shaft transmits rotation to said second ratchet wheel and thus to said take-up roll.

6. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said loom further comprises a plurality of shuttle boxes movable alternatively to operative position under control of said pattern device, and said first means responsive to said pattern device includes means responsive to movement of a selected empty one of said shuttle boxes to operative position for activating said clutch means.

7. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 6, wherein said loom includes an indicator shaft angularly movable about its axis to extents directly related to that of said shuttle boxes, and wherein said means responsive to movement of a selected shuttle box to operative position includes a movable actuator operatively associated with said clutch means, linkage connecting said indicator shaft to said actuator and being operable to move said actuator to activate said clutch means upon predetermined angular movement of said indicator shaft elfected with movement of said one shuttle box to operative position.

8. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 7, wherein said loom includes a stop motion responsive to the failure of a shuttle to be thrown across the lay in timed relation to oscillation of the lay for stopping the loom, means responsive to said predetermined angular movement of said indicator shaft for rendering said stop motion non-responsive to the failure of a shuttle to be thrown across the lay whereby oscillation of the lay may continue during rotation of said take-up roll at said faster speed.

9. A fringe forming mechanism according to claim 1, in which said output component of said warp let-off motion is drivingly connected to said warp beam by means of a warp drive shaft and by a first gear mounted on said warp drive shaft and being continuously driven by said output component; said second means responsive to said pattern device comprising a differential gear unit including a planetary gear fixed for orbital movement about and with said warp drive shaft, a pair of sun gears loose on said warp drive shaft and engaging said planetary gear, a normally active braking device for one of said sun gears, the other sun gear being in fixed axial relation to said first gear, said first gear being loose on said warp drive shaft whereby said first gear normally transmits rotation to said warp drive shaft through differential gear unit, and means under control of pattern device for inactivating said braking device thereby permitting said one sun gear to rotate on said warp drive shaft so as to permit free rotation of said warp drive shaft by said warp beam during rotation of said take-up roll at said faster speed.

It). A fringe forming mechanism for a loom having a cloth take-up comprising a take-up roll, a ratchet wheel operatively connected to said roll, a pawl adapted to impart stepwise rotation to said ratchet wheel, and means for reciprocating said pawl; said fringe forming mechanism comprising an auxiliary drive means including a normally inactive clutch means having an output portion including rotatable means operatively connected to and normally rotated by said take-up roll with rotation of said ratchet wheel, said clutch means also comprising a driven input portion, and pattern controlled means for activating said clutch means to establish a fixed connection between said input portion and said rotatable means at predetermined intervals of predetermined duration during reciprocation of said pawl and said auxiliary drive means being arranged to rotate said take-up roll at a substantially faster speed when said clutch means is activated than that effected by reciprocation of said pawl.

11. A structure according to claim 19, wherein said loom includes a rotary shaft rotating continuously during operation of the loom, and means transmitting rotation continuously to said input portion of said clutch means from said rotary shaft.

12. A structure according to claim 10, wherein said clutch means is in the form of a single revolution clutch having a biased cam plate provided with an abutment thereon, a movable actuator normally engaging said abutment and normally maintaining said clutch inactive, said pattern controlled means including means connected to said actuator and being operable to move said actuator out of engage-ment with said abutment to permit said cam plate to rotate and thereby activate said clutch, and said means connected to said actuator being operable thereafter to release said actuator so it will be engaged by said abutment to inactivate said clutch.

13. A structure according to claim 10, wherein said output portion of said clutch means comprises a normally stationary output shaft which is rotated upon activation of said clutch means, said rotatable means normally rotated by said take-up roll comprising a second ratchet wheel, and a second pawl biased toward said second ratchet wheel and carried by said output shaft for rotating said second ratchet wheel during rotation of said output shaft to transmit rotation to said take-up roll.

14. A structure according to claim 13, wherein said rotatable means further comprises a gear loosely mounted on said output shaft and disposed in fixed axial relation to said second ratchet wheel, and gear means normally transmitting stepwise rotation from said first-named ratchet wheel to said gear and to said take-up roll while said clutch means is inactive.

sai' said and 15. A structure according to claim 13, including means normally maintaining said second pawl out of engagement with said second ratchet wheel, and means responsive to initiation of each rotation of said output shaft for releasing said second pawl from said maintaining means whereby rotation of said output shaft transmits rotation to said second ratchet wheel and thus to said take-up roll.

16. A structure according to claim 15, in which said second pawl is carried by said output shaft by means of a crank pivotally supporting said second pawl and fixed on said output shaft, said maintaining means includes a cam adjacent said second ratchet wheel, a trailing portion on said second pawl, means yieldably urging said cam inwardly toward the path of travel of said trailing portion during rotation thereof and disposed so as to apply resilient pressure to said trailing portion tending to pivot said second pawl out of engagement with said second ratchet wheel so that, upon initial rotary movement of said second ratchet wheel by said take-up roll following termination of each rotation of said output shaft, said cam pivots said second pawl out of engagement with said second ratchet wheel, and said cam being so located that said trailing portion moves out of engagement with said cam immediately following initiation of each rotation of said output shaft occurring with each activation of said clutch means.

17. In a loom having an oscillatable lay, a pattern device, a warp beam and a positive warp let-off motion having a constant speed rotary input component driven by the loom, a variable speed rotary output component, a warp drive shaft geared to the warp beam, and a first gear mounted on said warp drive shaft and being continuously driven by said output component; means connecting said first gear to said warp drive shaft comprising a differential gear unit including a planetary gear fixed for orbital movement about and with said warp drive shaft, 9. pair of sun gears loose on said warp drive shaft and engaging said planetary gear, a normally active braking device for one of said sun gears, the other sun gear being in fixed axial relation to said first gear, said first gear being loose on said Warp drive shaft whereby said first gear normally transmits rotation to said warp drive shaft through said differential gear unit, and means under control of said pattern device for inactivating said braking device and thereby permitting said one sun gear to rotate on said warp drive shaft so as to permit rotation of said warp drive shaft by said warp beam without the same being subjected to the load of said output component.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,352,341 6/1944 Oh 139-24- 2,622,632 12/1952 Jarvis 139-309 2,823,707 2/1958 Rabeux et al 139-309 3,308,854 3/1967 Pfarrwaller 139-99 HENRY S. IAUDON, Primary Examiner. 

1. A FRINGE FORMING MECHANISM FOR A LOOM HAVING AN OSCILLATABLE LAY, A PATTERN DEVICE, A WRAP BEAM A POSITIVE WRAP LET-OFF MOTION HAVING A CONSTANT SPEED ROTARY INPUT COMPONENT DRIVINGLY CONNECTED TO SAID WRAP BEAM, A CLOTH TAKE-UP MECHANISM COMPRISING A TAKE-UP ROLL, A RATCHET WHEEL OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID TAKE-UP ROLL, AND A PAWL OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO AND RECIPROCATED BY SAID LAY AND ENGAGING SAID WHEEL TO IMPART STEPWISE ROTATION TO SAID WHEEL AND THUS TO SAID TAKE-UP ROLL; SAID FRINGE FORMING MECHANISM COMPRISING AN AUXILIARY DRIVE MEANS FOR SAID TAKE-UP INCLUDING NORMALLY INACTIVE CLUTCH MEANS HAVING A DRIVEN ROTARY INPUT PORTION AND A NORMALLY INACTIVE ROTARY OUTPUT PORTION, SAID OUTPUT PORTION INCLUDING ROTATABLE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO AND NORMALLY ROTATED BY SAID TAKE-UP ROLL, FIRST MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID PATTERN DEVICE FOR ACTIVATING SAID CLUTCH MEANS TO ESTABLISH A FIXED CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID INPUT PORTION AND SAID ROTATABLE MEANS OF SAID OUTPUT PORTION OF SAID CLUTCH MEANS, SAID AUXILIARY DRIVE MEANS BEING ARRANGED TO ROTATE SAID TAKE-UP ROLL AT A SUBSTANTIALLY FASTER SPEED WHEN SAID CLUTCH MEANS IS ACTIVATED THAN THAT EFFECTED NORMALLY BY RECIPROCATION OF SAID PAWL, AND SEC OND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID PATTERN DEVICE UPON ACTIVATION OF SAID CLUTCH MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID WRAP BEAM FROM SAID OUTPUT COMPONENT TO PERMIT THE CLOTH TO BE TAKEN UP BY SAID TAKE-UP ROLL AT LEAST FASTER SPEED WITHOUT BEING ENCUMBERED BY SAID WRAP LET-OFF MOTION. 